Birmingham City sign new kit deal with Chinese suppliers

BLUES today announced a ground-breaking agreement with Chinese sportswear firm Xtep to supply their kit for the next five years.

BLUES today announced a ground-breaking agreement with Chinese sportswear firm Xtep to supply their kit for the next five years.

The deal, worth £7.8 million, was described as the most lucrative in the club’s history as investment continues to be attracted from China, Hong Kong and the Far East on the back of Carson Yeung’s arrival.

And it is believed to be the first time an English side have opted to use a Chinese business to supply their strip and associated training and leisure wear apparel.

Peter Pannu, Blues’ vice-chairman executive and finance, said: “This is a fantastic deal for the football club.

“Not only is it a superb deal commercially, being the biggest sponsorship the club has acquired, but also on a brand level as it promotes the club internationally. Xtep are big players in the sportswear market in China and this partnership will expand the Birmingham City FC brand in the Far East.”

Blues had been negotiating with Italian manufacturers errea to replace current suppliers Umbro, whose contract finishes at the end of the season.

But those talks began before Yeung completed his takeover and it was perhaps inevitable that he would tap into the fast-growing sportswear industry back home.

Blues also promised to ask supporters to help choose the design of the jerseys for the 2010-11 season.

The Xtep brand was established in 2002. The business is based in Quanzhou, Fujian province.

Like Grandtop – now Birmingham – International Holdings, Yeung’s firm that owns Blues, they have an office in Hong Kong and are registered in the Cayman Islands.

They recently secured a licensing deal from Walt Disney to produce a Disney Sport brand and the Xtep International Holdings group has nearly 6,000 retail outlets in the People’s Republic.

The Xtep enterprise carried out design, development, manufacture and marketing of sportswear, including footwear and accessory products, its website said.

The brand ‘has become synonymous with trendy, innovative and high-quality fashion sportswear products’ in China, it proclaimed.

They have enlisted the services of Hong Kong pop star Nicolas Tse as one of their spokesmen and are the sole product partner for the National Games of China and title sponsor of the Chinese National Basketball League.

Xtep have the capacity to churn out 12 million pairs of trainers annually and three million items of sportswear from its production facility in Quanzhou, a city of 7.8 million people.

Central to Yeung’s business plan for the club is exploiting the huge Far East market and raising awareness of Blues.

Already Birmingham International Holdings have brokered an agreement with Peace International Creation, who run a firm that develops electronic media platforms for airports and aeroplanes, while a joint venture with Beijing Armstrong International was forged to form Birmingham China, to engage in advertising, marketing and sponsorship tasks there.

And in the Ukraine last month it was announced that Altana Capita had linked up with Birmingham International Holdings on infrastructure and mining projects.

At the Manchester United game, more than 50 movers and shakers from this country and from the air, oil and television industries in China and Hong Kong were boardroom guests of Yeung.

In pre-season, Blues will go on tour and play friendlies in China and Hong Kong to help raise their profile and spread the message.